Pirates rob East Coast, West Berbice fishing crews

Pirates attacked a fishing crew from the East Coast of Demerara, escaping with a boat, a quantity of fish, glue and other articles valued about $6M.

Reports are that the pirates, who were armed and wore masks, pounced on the men around 6 pm on Thursday. Some of the pirates took possession of the boat, belonging to a fisherman, called ‘Palwa’ with the men in it. They then robbed another boat owned by Dalchan of Rosignol, West Berbice around 2 am yesterday.

They beat the captain, Seepaul and crew and carted off 40 snapper with glue and 20 trout with glue. The pirates then ordered the fishers from the East Coast who were held captive, into Dalchan’s boat and escaped towards Suriname.

They had also destroyed Dalchan’s engine and left the men to drift until about 8 am yesterday, when they were rescued by a boat from the No 66 Fish Port Complex.

Chairman of the fisheries Pravinchandra Deodat ensured that the East Coast fishers had food while they awaited the arrival of relatives.

In the meantime, he spoke to the police and an official from the regional fisheries department to investigate the matter.